Walking yesterday through Chinatown in search of something for dinner, I found two good-looking Basa fillets (about $4.50/ lb). The Basa is native to Southeast Asia and it is mostly farm raised these days. If you are concerned about buying locally caught this is not your fish. However it appears as a "good alternative" under the pocket guide for US fish consumers published by the Monterey Aquarium.
The cooking method is a very simple recipe from Mark Bittman's book "Fish." It works with almost any fish fillet (not sure about salmon.) First, you need a piece of aluminium foil big enough to wrap your fillet. Place the extended aluminum foil on a work surface and then place a layer of thinly sliced potatoes and onions, add salt and pepper and a few drops of olive oil, place your fillet over the potatoes/onion layer and top it with two butterfly cut shrimps (optional). Then add some fresh herbs from your choice. In this case I used basil and a bit of cilantro. Before closing your wrap, add a little bit of salt, pepper and paprika or other seasoning of your choice.
Put your wrapped fillet in a 450 oven for about 20 to 25 minutes...usually you can smell it when it is done. You can open the wrap and check if the fish is fully cooked.
yummy egg!
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